Treasurer puts email deletion policy on holdLITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas state treasurer's office has put on hold a new office policy requiring employees to delete all emails after 30 days. Spokesman Grant Wallace for Republican Treasurer Dennis Milligan said Wednesday that the policy put in place April 17 had been suspended pending further review. An email was sent to treasurer's office employees on April 29 directing them to disregard the deletion policy, which was being removed fr...

Federal funding approved for health clinicsLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Four Arkansas health providers will receive more than $2.4 million in Affordable Care Act funding to start three new Arkansas community health clinics and one in Kentucky. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced funding from the federal Affordable Care Act this week for 164 planned community health clinics in 33 states. The Arkansas clinics will offer primary care services and expand medical care for about...

Escape from county jail in Oklahoma recaptured in ArkansasFAYETTEVILLE (AP) — The U.S. Marshals Service says an escaped inmate from the Adair County Jail in eastern Oklahoma has been recaptured in western Arkansas. The marshals service said Wednesday that Frank Potter was found Tuesday night hiding in the attic of an apartment complex in Fayetteville and was captured without further incident. Adair County authorities say Potter escaped Saturday by climbing over a fence and going to a nearby home wher...

Hot Springs passes LGBT anti-discrimination ordinanceHOT SPRINGS (AP) — The Hot Springs Board of Directors has passed an ordinance that would prohibit the city and its vendors from discriminating against people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The board voted 6-1 to approve the ordinance Tuesday night. The anti-discrimination ordinance applies to all city departments regarding hiring practices and conduct by city employees. District 3 Director Becca Clark, the sponsor of the...

West Memphis 3 rally calls for reopening of investigationLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Supporters of the three men convicted for the 1993 killing of three boys in West Memphis are calling on officials to reopen the investigation. The "Justice for Six Rally" on Tuesday on the steps of the Arkansas State Capitol marked the 22nd anniversary of the deaths of Christopher Byers, Stevie Branch and Michael Moore. Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin, referred to as the West Memphis Three, were convicted ...

Second Suspect in Little Rock robberies arrestedLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Police have arrested a second suspect in a robbery in the Breckenridge area and an attempted robbery at Park Plaza Mall in Little Rock. Lt. Sidney Allen said a 30-year-old woman was arrested Tuesday and faces charges including two counts of aggravated robbery and two counts of theft of property. Authorities said the suspect, along with a man, tried to rob a woman outside the mall Sunday. According to police, the victim resis...

Attorney picked to lead Little Rock School DistrictLITTLE ROCK (AP) — State education officials say attorney Baker Kurrus will be the new superintendent of the Little Rock School District. Kurrus, 60, replaces former superintendent Dexter Suggs, who resigned last month amid allegations he plagiarized sections of his 2009 doctoral dissertation. The Arkansas Board of Education made the announcement at a Tuesday afternoon news conference. Kurrus previously served on the Little Rock School Board f...

Woman charged with human traffickingLITTLE ROCK (AP) — A Wynne woman is charged with human trafficking stemming from allegations that she forced two teenagers into prostitution and was being held Tuesday on $250,000 bond. Jonesboro police say charges were lodged against 28-year-old Amber Nicole Johnson in Craighead County District Court. Johnson was arrested by Arkansas State Troopers in Little Rock last week at a motel where troopers announced Monday they had rescued a 15-year-...

Witnesses testify slain Ashdown couple were meth usersASHDOWN (AP) — Witnesses have testified in the capital murder trial of a man charged in the 1997 deaths of an Ashdown couple that the deceased were methamphetamine users. Timothy Lamont Howard is on trial for the second time in the deaths of Brian and Shannon Day and for attempted murder of the couple's 7-month-old son. Prosecutors have said Howard killed Shannon Day because she thought she was pregnant with Howard's child and that he killed B...

Deputies arrest crawfish store owner in drug stingHARRISBURG (AP) — Deputies have arrested the owner and employees of a northeast Arkansas crawfish store after they found methamphetamine and other illegal items during a raid. An incident report from the Poinsett County Sheriff's Office states that meth, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and a stolen John Deere riding lawnmower were found at H&T Crawfish on Friday. The department says it was tipped off by a resident who told authorities young chil...

Governor to promote computer science classes at high schoolsLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson will travel to high schools across the state to encourage students to enroll in computer science courses. Hutchinson's office announced Tuesday that the governor will travel to at least 10 high schools this month and that more locations will be announced later. Each of the selected schools has been asked to perform an hour of coding with the student body before the visit. The Republican vowed to ...

Little Rock retirement center sold for more than $16.5MLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Officials say a Little Rock retirement center has been sold to a real estate company for more than $16.5 million. The executive director of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System said on Monday that the Woodland Heights retirement center was sold to the Woodland Heights Al Real Estate LLC for $16.8 million. The retirement system acquired the center in 2001 after a company defaulted on a loan from the retirement system. The t...

Police investigate shooting at carnivalBLYTHEVILLE (AP) — Authorities in northeast Arkansas are investigating after a juvenile was shot and wounded at a carnival. Blytheville Police Capt. Scott Adams told the Jonesboro Sun on Monday that authorities hope to serve a warrant soon in the Friday shooting. He says a suspect shot the child at a Mississippi County carnival before fleeing and that the suspect and victim know each other. Their identities haven't been released and their rela...

Little Rock woman arrested on suspicion of stabbing neighborLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Police say a 31-year-old woman stabbed her Little Rock neighbor after an argument. According to a Little Rock Police Department report, the woman was burning leaves at her home when her 52-year-old neighbor asked her not to move to where he was painting on his property. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/1KbpDDk ) reports a witness told police they saw the two neighbors exchange words before the woman said she was ...

Little Rock woman arrested on suspicion of stabbing neighborLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Police say a 31-year-old woman stabbed her Little Rock neighbor after an argument. According to a Little Rock Police Department report, the woman was burning leaves at her home when her 52-year-old neighbor asked her not to move to where he was painting on his property. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/1KbpDDk ) reports a witness told police they saw the two neighbors exchange words before the woman said she was ...

Huckabee, the other man from Hope, opens 2016 bidHOPE (AP) — The other man from Hope is running for president again. Declaring Tuesday that he can bring "the kind of change that truly can get America from hope to higher ground," former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee announced his Republican candidacy in the hometown he shares with former President Bill Clinton. Though they share roots in Hope, Huckabee is pitching himself as the best Republican to take on Bill's wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, th...

State troopers rescue teenage victim in human trafficking operationArkansas State Troopers and civilian investigators of the State Police Crimes Against Children Division are being credited with locating and recovering a 15-year-old girl who had been sexually exploited while being held in a human trafficking operation. The arrest of Amber Johnson, 28, of North Little Rock last Wednesday night (April 29) at a south Little Rock motel has become part of a larger human trafficking investigation. The investigation...

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Arkansas State PoliceThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Flags to fly at half-staff for former US Rep. HammerschmidtLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has ordered that U.S. and state flags be flown at half-staff for the memorial service for former U.S. Rep. John Paul Hammerschmidt. The proclamation announced Saturday and dated Friday orders the flags fly at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Monday, which would have been Hammerschmidt's 93rd birthday. Hutchinson — a Republican like Hammerschmidt — called Hammerschmidt "an Arkansas icon, polit...

New Mexico National Guardsman dies at eventNORTH LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A member of the New Mexico National Guard has died while taking part in a marksmanship competition in Arkansas. Arkansas National Guard Lt. Col. Joel Lynch says 28-year-old Staff Sgt. Ryan Faraone collapsed Thursday afternoon after running approximately 200 yards at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock. Lynch said Faraone was taken to a Little Rock hospital where he later died. Camp Robinson hosted the competition and th...

Witness: Man on trial for murder unlikely to father childASHDOWN (AP) — A urologist says man charged with killing an Ashdown couple is unlikely to have fathered a child, as prosecutors have said. Forty-five-year-old Timothy Lamont Howard is on trial in Little River County for the 1997 deaths of Brian Day and Shannon Day and for attempted murder of the Day's 7-month-old son. Prosecutors have said Howard killed Shannon Day because she thought she was pregnant with Howard's child and that he killed Bri...